May 24, 2012
Italian TIM Cup Semifinals: February 10, 2007
Marco Mordente - Benetton Treviso A pair of thrilling semifinals set up a mouth-watering Italian TIM Cup final as VidiVici Bologna edged Armani Jeans Milano in overtime and Benetton Treviso topped Montepaschi Siena on a last-second shot on Saturday at the PalaMalaguti Arena. Travis Best became the VidiVici hero by hitting the game-winning free throws with seconds to go as his team outlasted Milano 85-87 in the day's early game. Vlado Ilievski and Guilherme Giovannoni led the winners each with 18 points. Dusan Vukcevic had 15 points, Brett Blizzard added 11 and Kris Lang 10 for VidiVici. Danilo Gallinari had 27 points for Milano, Travis Watson added 12 while Nate Green and Dante Calabria each scored 11 points. Benetton ace Matteo Soragna's bomb sank Montepaschi 75-76 to send the Italian champions to the final for the first time since winning the cup two years ago. Marco Mordente led Treviso with 21 – including 14 points and four huge triples in the last 5 minutes. Terrell Lyday added 16 and Spencer Nelson 10 for Benetton. Jospeh Forte had 20, Rimas Kaukenas 15, Terrell McIntyre 14 and Romain Sato finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds for Siena.

Three-pointers by Giovannoni and Blizzard gave VidiVici a 9-14 lead late in the first period, but Sven Schultze and Joseph Blair and free throws by Doremus Bennermann allowed Milano to get within 18-20 at the end of the first quarter. Lang and Vukcevic combined for all the points in a 7-0 VidiVici run to open the second quarter and then Giovannoni buried a jumper for an 11-point lead. Watson and Gallinari fueled a Milano comeback, but their team only got within 36-42 at halftime. An outstanding Gallinari kept pacing Milano and Calabria buried one from downtown to put his team back ahead, 47-46. VidiVici managed to stop Gallinari late in the third quarter, before a triple by Blizzard and a free throw by Kiwane Garris tied it at 54-54 after 30 minutes. A three-point play by Ilievski and a critical triple by Vukcevic gave VidiVici a 67-71 edge with 3 minutes to go. Giovannoni then dunked it for an even bigger lead, 69-75. Calabria buried a three-pointer and Garris hit a free throw as VidiVici committed a key turnover. Garris stepped up with a big basket that took the game to overtime, 75-75. The extra period saw four lead changes before Gallinari nailed a triple to tie it at 85-85. Best drew a foul and calmly made free throws. Milano's Green missed a potential game-winning three-point shot at the buzzer.

Marcus Goree and Lyday got things going early for Benetton, but it was all Montepaschi after that, as Kaukenas and Ben Eze played big roles in an 11-2 run that gave the league-leaders a 21-12 lead at the end of the first period. Benetton picked up the defensive intensity and held Siena to just 10-second-period points, while Nelson took charge on the other end as Treviso came back to knot the score at 31-31 at halftime. McIntyre cameout for the second half smokin', as he buried a pair of triples during a 12-0 run that gave Montepaschi a 46-33 lead midway through the fourth quarter. The lead reached 15 before Lyday brought it down to 55-45 after 30 minutes. Three-pointers by Lyday and Preston Shumpert got Benetton going in the last period, however when Forte scored all his team's points during a 10-2 lead that made it 71-55 with 5 minutes remaining, Treviso's hopes looked bleak. But Mordente drilled three triples and Soragna added 4 points as Benetton reeled off 13 unanswered points to get back in the game. After McIntyre made it 73-68 from the line, Mordente made two free throws and drilled a triple to tie it. McIntyre put his team up 2 once more from the line, only for Nikos Zisis to assist on Soragna's triple that gave Benetton its first lead of the second half and sent the team to the title game.


TIM Cup Final Eight Cup 2006-07 February 8-11, 2007
QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinal
69 VidiVivi Bologna  
62 Whrilpool Bologna87 VidiVici Bologna 
   
74 Armani Milano85 Armani Milano 
70 Premiata Monteg. VidiVici Bologna
   
86 Montepaschi Benetton Treviso
69 Eldo Napoli75 Montepaschi 
  
67 Lottomatica Roma76 Benetton Treviso 
75 Benetton Treviso  
Saturday, February 10, 2007
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